Flying cannon



1944- G. P. KIMMEL 2,356,674

I FLYING CANNON Filed June 3, 3,940 2 Sheets-Sheet l if 3mm 6 .8039 8 Pff'mmai Aug. 22, 1944. G. P. KIMMEL FLYING CANNON Filed June 5, 1940 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 9 Claims.

This invention relates to a flying cannon.

An object of this invention is to form a weapon of this character which will permit accurate shooting in connection with power diving toward an objective.

In a bomb and torpedo dropping from bombers operating by the power dive method, the misses are at least ten to one over the hits. In this flying cannon, sights are provided on a direct line with the fuselage of the plane so that the pilot may sight the cannon with extreme accuracy in the direction of his power dive. If his aim be that of sighting a rifle at a comparatively large target such as a cruiser deck, it is impossible to conceive how he could miss. The fuselage is streamlined so as to provide a relatively small target. It goes to a great height and plummets at a target, discharging the missile at a distance of only five hundred to a thousand feet therefrom. The missile travels in a direct line and not on an arc. No calculation of air currents or timing between the flying cannon and the missile is necessary, as in case of dropping aerial bombs.

The propelling force behind the missile may be any power, but preferably a non-explosive charge is utilized to permit of the use of a comparatively light barrel from which to discharge the missile. The velocity of such discharge in view of the speed at which the plan is travelin need not be greater than twice the velocity of the fall of the plane at the time of the discharge. When a plane is plummeted at customary diving speed, the projectile ejected from its fuselage cannon would be traveling at approximately twice that speed when it strikes the deck of a ship.

This type of flying cannon i designed primarily for use against fighting craft, transports, and aerial transports and large bombers. The speed of the plane itself must be such that it can maintain a relative speed when attacking another air enemy. Its destructive force would be such that only one hit would be necessary to put the enemy out of action.

The equipment used in a. plane of this type is all standard, since the standard shells of various sizes can be adapted to the use here intended.

Another object of this invention is to build a plane structure around a cannon or gun wherein the projectile is formed as the nose of the plane and the projectile is provided with armor piercing characteristics so that the pilot or operator of the plane can dive the plane at an objective, discharge the projectile, and immediately zoom upwardly again.

A further object of this invention is to form a combined cannon and airplane for discharging an armor piercing projectile at an objective wherein a preferably non-explosive propelling medium may be used to shoot the projectile from the cannon.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a flying cannon which is formed as part of an airplane fuselage so that the fuselage may be aimed directly at the objective and the projectile discharged ahead of the fuselage, the airplane including means active subsequent to the discharge of the projectile for turning the airplane upwardly so that the airplane may be flown away from the objective and out of the zone of the concussion force of the exploded projectile.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combined cannon and plane in which the pilot has more than a reasonable chance of discharging the projectile and returning the airplane to the base.

A further object of this invention is to provide a flying cannon having a resilient projectile ejector which is releasably locked in its contracted position and which is releasable by a manually controlled releasing mechanism, the releasing mechanism including a delayed action operator connected toan elevator means for operating the elevator means at a sufliciently delayed time to permit the projectile to travel ahead of the nose of the fuselage before the direction of the plane is changed.

To the foregoing objects and to others which may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein are shown embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which wall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section partly broken away and in elevation of a combined plane and cannon constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of the device showing the projectile discharged from the combined cannon and plane. V

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section of the cannon and fuselage of the plane.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line fi4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral Ill designates generally a plane structure which is formed with a streamlined fuselage l I, wings l2, a tail structure l3 and a rudder structure. A pair of engines II are carried by the wings l2 on opposite sides of the fuselage l l and are operated in the conventional manner by controls extending into the fuselage II. formed with a transparent cowl it which is formed with a transparent front wall I! and a transparent top wall l8. The front wall I1 is inclined upwardly and rearwardly and the top wall l3 may be inclined downwardly and rearwardly and may be of longitudinally arcuate configuration so that the rear portion of the top wall I8 substantially merges with the upper surface of the fuselage I I.

In order to provide a means whereby a projectile in the form of an armor piercing missile may be shot from the plane I II with a high degree of accuracy, I have formed in the fuselage II at the forward end thereof, a cannon barrel l9 which has the longitudinal axis thereof disposed co-axial with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage H. The barrel I9 is open at its forward end and merges at its forward end as at 20 in the forward'end of the fuselage H. The forward end of the fuselage II is streamlined so as to taper from a rearward point into a relatively sharp nose. The gun barrel l9 at its rear end is formed with a rear wall or plug 2| which may be threaded into the cylindrical barrel i9 or secured therein in any suitable manner.

A projectile charge member 22 is disposed within the barrel l9 and in the present instance this charge member 22 is formed of an expanding spring which at its forward end may have a follower or disc-shaped plate 23 engaged therewith. The follower 23 may be secured to the forward end of the spring or charge member 22 or if desired, this follower member 23 may be free so that when the spring or charge member 22 is released, the follower 22 may also be ejected from the forward end of the gun barrel I9.

A projectile 24 is adapted to engage within the gun barrel l9 and this projectile is preferably of a standard construction which is formed with an armor piercing nose 25 and a cap 25 which is adapted to ignite the charge disposed within the projectile 24. The projectile 24 adjacent the rear thereof is formed with an annular groove 21, the groove 21 being substantially V- shape in transverse section with the rear side 23 thereof disposed at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the projectile 24. The projectile 24 is releasably held in the gun barrel l9 by means of a spring pressed latch member 29 which is slidably carried by a guide 30. The guide 30 is carried by the fuselage H and a spring 3| engages about the latch member 29 exteriorly of the barrel l9 and one end of the spring 3| engages against a pin or a collar 32-which is carried by the latch member 29. The other end of the spring 3| engages against a latch operating member generally designated as 33.

The latch operating member 33 comprises an elongated rod 34 which at its forward end is formed with a latch releasing cam 35 which is slidable in a slot 35 formed in the latch member 29. The rod 34 is slidably carried by a guide member 31 which is secured to the fuselage l l by means of a guide supporting structure 39. The rod 34 is formed with an offset rear portion 39 which is slidable in a guide member 40 carried by guide supporting means 4| fixed to the fuselage IL. The offset portion 39 at its rear end ter- The fuselage I l is minates in an elongated loop 42. A latch releasing lever 43 is pivotally mounted at its lower end on a pivot 44 carried by a bearing 45 which is fixed relative to the fuselage ll.

A toothed quadrant 46 is disposed concentric to the pivot member 44 and the lever 43 is formed with a spring pressed dog 41 which is connected to a dog releasing lever 49. The dog releasing lever 43 is pivotally carried as at 49 by the lever 43 adjacent the upper end thereof.

In order to provide a means whereby the air entering the barrel I9 after the discharge of the projectile 24 may be discharged therefrom so as to prevent the formation of a pocket which will impede the movement of the plane III, I have provided a plurality of air ducts 53, 5| and 52. The ducts 59 are disposed adjacent the forward end of the barrel l9 and communicate the interior of the barrel I9-with the exterior of the fuselage ll. These ducts 50 also provide a means for supporting the barrel l9 within the fuselage II. The ducts 5| communicate with the interior of the. barrel l9 at a point intermediate the ends of the barrel l9 and extend through the fuselage ll so that air may pass from the barrel l9 rearwardly from the ducts 50 through the ducts 5| and then be discharged into the atmosphere exteriorly of the fuselage II. The ducts 52 are disposed at substantially the extreme rear end of the barrel I9 and are inclined rearwardly and outwardly. The ducts 52 communicate the rear end of the barrel [3 with the atmosphere through the fuselage II. The ducts 50, 5| and 52 are disposed in a radial position about the barrel l9 and are inclined rearwardly and constitute bracing or supporting means for the barrel l9 in addition to preventing the accumulation of air under pressure in the barrel l9 after the discharge of the projectile 24.

In order to provide a means whereby the direction of travel of the plane It may be changed immediately following the discharge of the projectile 24, I have provided an elevator member 53 which is pivoted at its forward end asat 54 to the underside of the fuselage H. The elevator 53 may be of any desired length and may underlap the under surface of the wings l2, the length and width of the elevator 53 being sufficient to quickly change the direction of movement of the plane Ill. The elevator 53 is operated by means of a bell crank 55 which is mounted on a pivot 59 carried by a bearing or support 51 which is fixed to the fuselage ll. One leg 53 of the bell crank 55 is slidably connected to a substantially U-shaped member 59 which is fixed to the upper side of the elevator 53. The bell crank arm 58 has a pin or bar 53 secured thereto which engages the guide member 59 so that rocking of the arm 53 downwardly will swing the rear end of the elevator 53 downwardly to an operative position. The fuselage II is formed with an elongated opening 6| through which the guide member 59 is adapted to extend and through which the arm 53 is adapted to engage when in operative position. As shown in Figure 3, the elevator 53 when in inoperative position is adapted to lie snugly against the underside of the fuselage H and to close the opening 6|. The other arm or leg 52 of the bell crank 55 is connected to an elongated operating rod 53 by means of a slidable connection 54. The arm 52 is provided with an elongated slot 55 in which the connector or pin 54 slidably engages. The operator 53 is slidable through a guide 65 which may be carried by the guide 43 on the upper side 3 tion, the forward edge of the lever 43 engages against the forward end 68 of the loop 61 so as to firmly hold the rod 83 against rearward endwise movement.

The fuselage ll adjacent the releasin lever 43 is provided with a pilot seat 69 which is disposed at one side of the lever 43. While the lever 43 is disposed substantially in the center of the fuselage II, it will be understood that the lever 43 and the operating rod 3439 may be positioned adjacent the side wall of the fuselage ii. A telescope or a sight member is disposed in a position forwardly of the seat 69 so that the pilot may look through the sighting member 10 which is positioned with the longitudinal axis thereof parallel with the axis of the gun barrel I9. An auxiliary sighting member Il may be carried by the fuselage ll forwardly of the telescope or sighting member 10 and in practice this auxiliary sighting member II is constructed in the form of a pair of right angularly disposed members which are disposed in intersecting relation with the point of intersection positioned coplanar with the longitudinal axis of the sighting member 10. In this manner the pilot on the seat 69 may look through the telescope or sighting member 10 and when the objective is in line with the auxiliary sighting member H, the releasing lever 43 may be pulled back so as to release the latch 29. The sighting member 10 in the present instance is extended through the front wall I! of the cowl l6 and is secured to the fuselage l I by means of a mounting member 12.

In the operation of the plane hereinbefore described, the projectile 24 is inserted in the gun barrel l9 and the projectile charge member 24 is compressed to the desired degree so that the latch 29 will engage in the annular latching groove or keeper 2! formed in the projectile 24 adjacent the rear thereof. The plane is operated in the conventional manner and with the conventional controls (not shown) and when it is desired to shoot the projectile 24 at the desired objective, the fuselage l l is pointed directly at the objective and preferably the plane is in a diving position which may be either substantially vertical or at an inclination to the vertical. The nose 25 of the projectile 24 projects outwardly of the gun barrel l9 and forms the forward end of the fuselage ll prior to the discharge of the projectile. After the pilot has sighted the objective through sighting structure Ill-II, the releasing lever 43 is pulled rearwardly. Rearwardly swinging of the releasing lever 43 will pull the latch releasing rod 3439 rearwardly and cause the cam 35 to pull the latch 29 outwardly to a released position. As the charge member 22 is under constant tension, the release of the latch 29 will permit the spring or charge member 22 to expand and thus eject or shoot the projectile 24 forwardly and outwardly of the gun barrel l9. As the plane is pointed directly at the objective and is moving downwardly at a high speed, the projectile 24 will move in the same direction but at a higher speed due to the charge member 22 forcing the projectile out of the gun barrel i9. With a structure of this kind, the projectile 24 will not travel in a trajectory but will travel in a straight line toward the objective particularly where the plane ill is pointed substantially vertical or at an angle slightly off of the vertical. In this manner the projectile 24 will travel directly at the objective and the line of travel will not be varied due to air currents or the force of gravity to any great extent.

The rearward swinging of the releasing lever 43 will initially release the latch 29 so as to first discharge the projectile 24. As this lever is pulled rearwardly to the limit of its swinging movement, the rear edge of the lever 43 will contact with the rear end 12 of the loop 61 and thus pull the elevator operating rod 63 rearwardly. Rearward sliding movement of the rod 63 will rock the bell crank 55 and swing the elevator 53 outwardly with respect to the bottom of the fuselage ii to the position shown in Figure 2. When the elevator 53 is in this position, the direction of flight of the plane will be changed so that the pilot may readily recover from the diving of the plane and return the plane to its base. After the plane has recovered from its diving operation, the lever 43 may be pushed forwardly so as to move the elevator 53 to its inoperative position and the plane i0 may then be operated by the conventional controls.

What I claim is:

1. In a plane, a cannon barrel coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the plane fuselage and terminating at the forward end of the fuselage, a resilient projectile charge in said barrel, a sliding spring pressed latch engaging through a side of said barrel and normally holding said charge in compressed position, a latch operating cam engaging said latch, a cam operating member secured to said cam, means slidably supporting said member, a rock lever connected to said member, means pivotally supporting said lever, releasable locking means for said lever, an auxiliary elevator pivotally carried by said plane, and a lost motion connection between said elevator and said lever whereby to move said elevator to operative position subsequent to the movement of said latch to released position, said lost motion connection including a. loop loosely engaging about said lever whereby continued movement of said lever beyond latch releasing position will move said elevator to operative position.

2. In a plane, a cannon barrel coaxial with the longtudinal axis of the plane fuselage and terminating at the forward end of the fuselage, a resilient projectile charge in said barrel, 2. sliding spring pressed latch engaging through a side of said barrel and normally holding said charge in compressed position, a latch operating cam engaging said latch, a cam operating member fixed to said cam, means slidably supporting said member, a rock lever connected to said member, means pivotally supporting said lever, releasable locking means for said lever, an auxiliary elevator pivotally carried by said plane, a bell crank rockably carried by the fuselage, a slidable connection between one side of said bell crank and said elevator, and a lost motion connection between the other side of said bell crank and said lever, said lost motion connection including a loop loosely engaging about said lever whereby continued movement of said lever beyond latch releasing position will move said elevator to operative position.

3. In combination a plane structure, a cannon carried by said structure, a projectile ejecting means in said cannon, a normally inactive auxiliary elevator, releasing means for said ejectin means, and lost motion means connected with said releasing means and said elevator and aper ated by said releasing meansfor rendering said elevator active subsequent to the activation of said ejecting means.

4. In an airplane, a cannon barrelmounted in the forward end of the fuselage, an ejector in said barrel, latch means engageable with 'the projectile for holding said ejector in set position, a. pivoted elevator for changing the flight direction of the airplane, a latch release member, a bell crank engaging said elevator, an operating lever for said release member, whereby rocking of said lever in one direction will effect release of said projectile and a linkage connecting said lever with said bell crank, said linkage being so constructed and arranged to provide for lost motion whereby additional rocking of said lever in said one direction will effect a rocking of said bell crank to swing said elevator to operative position.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein said ejector comprises a compressed spring. 1

6. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein said linkage comprises an elongated bar pivotally connected at one end to said bell crank, and an elongated loop at the other end of said bar engaging about said lever.

'7. In a. plane, a cannon barrel mounted coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the plane fuselage, a projectile charge in said barrel, means for making said charge active, and ducts extending from the interior of the barrel to the exterior of the fuselage and adapted to release air trapped in said barrel and also adapted to support said barrel, said ducts being connected to said barrel and said fuselage, and conducting air from the interior of said barrel to the atmosphere exteriorly of said fuselage.

8. In a plane, a cannon barrel mounted co-v axial with the longitudlnal axis of the plane fuselage, a projectile charge in said barrel, means for making said charge active, and ducts extending from the interior of the barrel to the exterior of the fuselage, and adapted to release air trapped in said barrel and also adapted to support said barrel, said ducts being connected to said barrel and said fuselage, and conducting air from the interior of said barrel. to the atmosphere exteriorly of said fuselage, said ducts being inclined rearwardly from said barrel.

9. In a plane, a cannon barrel mounted coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the plane fuselage, a projectile charge in said barrel, means for making said charge active, and ducts extending from the interior of the barrel to the exterior of the fuselage, and adapted to release air trapped in said barrel and also adapted to support said barrel, said ducts being connected to said barrel and said fuselage, and conducting air from the interior of said barrel to the atmosphere exteriorly of said fuselage, said ducts being inclined rearwardly from said barrel, and said ducts being arranged in spaced relation along the length of said barrel.

GEORGE P. KIMMEL. 

